What child does not like to color Easter eggs? It’s a fun way to spend some quality time together and build up the anticipation for this very special day.
But have you ever noticed that when you peel a vibrantly colored hard boiled egg, the egg white itself is as colorful as the shell was?
Egg shells are porous and whatever gets onto the shell will make it’s way onto the egg itself. With that in mind I decided to try my hand at making my own all natural, non-toxic vegetable dies for our eggs. It was a lot of fun and I have to say I am quite pleased with the results.
Here are some of the vegetables and spices I decided to experiment with:
- beet
- kale (I wanted spinach but we ate it all last night so I used what had on hand)
- Turmeric
- Paprika
- Saffron
The two clear winners were beet and turmeric.
I suspect spinach would have given a beautiful green and I will probably give it a try in the next couple of days.
To use the beet I juiced a small section which yielded about 2 tablespoons of gorgeous reddish pink juice. I then added 2 tablespoons of hot water and 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. Depending on how intense you want you color to be you could forgo the hot water. Vinegar will help bind the die to your egg.
As you can imagine the die took immediately and gave me a beautiful bright pink. I took some of the eggs out right away and used a cheese cloth to make interesting textures on the egg. You could use a natural sponge or other cloth for interesting variations on textures.
For the turmeric I tried the same approach and got acceptable results but I felt the color was a bit too pale. So I tried again making a paste that I rubbed on the egg. I then dipped the egg in the more liquid die and was satisfied with the results. Mixing both colors together led to yet another gorgeous color!
As with all egg dies, it’s fun to experiment in all sorts of ways. Let your imagination soar and have a wonderful time.
Just a word of caution — Beet juice and turmeric will die your hands as quickly as it will die your eggs so you might want to wear gloves for this fun project!
Have a blessed and colorful Easter!
These are gorgeous. My kids are older and we don’t usually dye Easter eggs but this is inspiring me to do them for myself. I love hard-boiled eggs! Love your website, glad I discovered you on the UBC!
Thank you Minette! I had so much fun making these myself and like you I love hard boiled eggs. They’re a great source of protein and make a perfect “lunch-on-the-go”. Have fun decorating! Looking forward to learning more about you through UBC and beyond 🙂
Hi Valerie! Thanks so much for sharing these great ideas. I’m going to give it a try this weekend. Hope you have a wonderful Easter! Warmly, Kelly
Have fun Kelly and have a beautiful Easter as well!
Beautiful eggs! I am going to have to try this. Happy Easter!
Thanks you Stacey! Have fun decorating 🙂
Those are so pretty colored! I have always wanted to try the beets to color eggs or other things, naturally.
Beets are amazing for dying Kim… everything including your hands if you don’t wear gloves lol
I love knowing I can dye eggs in a natural way. Definitely going to try this next year. Very pretty!
It was so much fun playing with these natural dyes Shannon! Good luck and please share new ideas if you have any 🙂
I think I really like this natural dye method and the hue it gives the eggs. They look really pretty!
Thanks Liz! It tool a little experimenting and playing around with the concentration of the dyes. Some other spices and veggies we tried did not work out so well but we were all trilled with these.
FUN! We’ve always used the dye packets, but it would be fun for my kids to see how natural ingredients can also dye the eggs.
I’m so careful about avoiding toxins with my girls Sara, but I know how much kids love vibrant colors so I was delighted when the girls found these colors to be gorgeous and just perfect for Easter.
These are so pretty. They look almost old fashioned in a way.
That’s exactly how I feel about them Patty!!! I love that old fashioned feel 🙂
The beet juice really did make a gorgeous color. I appreciate the softness of the hues. They are perfect for Easter decor.
Thanks Crystal. I love how these colors turned out and can’t wait to experiment with new foods and spices the next time around.
The beet-dyed eggs came out beautifully. Soft, yet definitely colorful enough.
I love that soft hue Crystal. It feels a little retro and fits perfectly with my natural way of decorating.
I love this idea! What a great way to use natural dies to color your eggs! I will have to try this with my boys. Thank you for sharing.